Pair Convicted of Enslaving Housekeeper
Md. Couple Brought Teen From Cameroon Illegally
By Phuong Ly, Washington Post Staff Writer
Originally published in The Washington Post, December 21, 2001
A Silver Spring couple was found guilty yesterday of enslaving a teenager from Cameroon by forcing her to work long hours as a housekeeper and nanny for three years without pay.
After nearly two weeks of trial, a federal jury in Greenbelt found Louisa Satia, 36, and Kevin Nanji, 40, guilty of charges of holding the girl in involuntary servitude, conspiracy to bring an illegal alien into the country and harboring an illegal alien for financial gain. Satia also was found guilty of passport and marriage fraud for arranging unions between American men and Cameroonian women.
"It's a great day for this victim and all victims who have been held in involuntary servitude," said Steve Smitson, a lawyer for CASA de Maryland, an immigrant services group.
"It sends a very strong message to other victims that it's possible and it's prudent to defend your rights, and traffickers should know that they'll be held accountable for their actions."
Federal officials have said that thousands of domestic workers are brought into the United States by their employers, often from their native country, and abused. Last year, a Gaithersburg man who kept a Brazilian woman in his home for nearly 20 years was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison for violating immigration laws.
Satia and Nanji were being held without bond, in part because the judge considered them a flight risk. Sentencing is scheduled for March.
The girl, whose name is being withheld because the prosecutor alleges she also was molested, testified during the trial that she was verbally and physically abused.
Robert Bonsib and Timothy Maloney, who represented the couple, said they planned to appeal.
During the trial, the teenager, now 18, testified that the couple used a bogus passport to bring her into the United States from Cameroon in December 1996.
She said her family expected that she would work as a domestic while attending high school.
Instead, she testified, she was ordered to work round-the-clock as a housekeeper and nanny.
The girl ran away in November 1999 after a beating and called a friend for help, according to court papers.
Satia and her husband were arrested in December 2000 along with Satia's sister, Vivian, and her husband on charges of harboring illegal aliens after they allegedly brought the young woman and another teenager from Cameroon and forced them to work as domestic servants without pay.
Vivian Satia and her husband, Etiondem Daniel Achamorfaw, of Germantown, pleaded guilty in February on related charges and have been ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to the other undocumented teenager.
Smitson said that both young women have temporary resident status in the United States until May.
He said they are exploring their immigration options and have filed civil claims against the couples.
